"Ah! I see it's durdling."

BOF has connections in Yorkshire and,whenever he's there, he likes to keep his ears tuned for unusual words. They're big ears, and despite his advancing years, their reception is still good. So it was with some delight that, during an amicable conversation with Mr Bennet, he captured the word "durdling". 

Chances are you'll be able to use it any time now. Practice it carefully, roll it around the palette, try introducing it casually into sentences. It's a weather word, and weather is much on the minds of bofs as we experience the beginnings of what might be the first properly aligned season since the GREAT WINTER of 62/63.

It refers to those moments when it tries to snow but doesn't quite succeed. The odd, almost imperceptible, flake flutters by the corner of an eye and then is gone, leaving the observer unsure as to whether it was really snow, or just a languorous liver spot drifting over the ageing vision.